


The Rescue

by Yugioh779



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Emotional, Gen, NASA, Outer Space, RIP Opportunity (Mars Rover)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-10-29 22:30:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17816720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yugioh779/pseuds/Yugioh779
Summary: This is a short story based off the one my friend wrote. His work it titled 'In Mars' Bind' and I highly recommend you read it first as it is sort of like a prologue to this. Go show my boi some love :3The year is 2519 and a group of three friends have graduated from The Star Academy that trains young astronauts and they are off on their first ever mission. They are on their way to a space station orbiting Mars where a colony for people is just starting to be built. Their job is to scout out the area and make sure everything can proceed as planned but as they look around they find something completely unexpected.





	1. To Space!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cr0wzn01d](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cr0wzn01d/gifts).
  * Inspired by [In Mars' Bind](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17806514) by [cr0wzn01d](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cr0wzn01d/pseuds/cr0wzn01d). 



> The pictures I include in the beginning are not mine and I have done my best to find royalty free ones.

 

 

“Is everyone ready for today?” The brunette boy asked while turning to his two companions. His name was Jo Perry and one of his companions happened to be his little brother Seth. Seth and his classmate Ash had just graduated from The Star Voyager Academy, just a year after Jo so now all three of them were fully certified Voyagers and they were getting ready for their first trip to outer space. Since Jo had already graduated he had already been up but only to the space station orbiting earth. This mission they were all going to Mars which was going to be a first for all of them.

 “You kidding?” Ash replied with a grin on his face. He had met Seth on the first day of classes and was introduced to Jo. Ever since then, the three of them had become fast friends and they were never apart for very long. “I have been waiting for this moment ever since I signed up to the academy!”

“Yeah, me too!” Seth agreed. Jo smiled and turned to face the big door that lead to the hanger where their ship was stationed. _This was it_. They were going to see their ship for the very first time. Jo took a deep breath and pressed the button that opened the door. The trio all gasped in unison when they saw their ship.

“It’s beautiful!” Ash exclaimed.

“Heck ya!” Seth said and the two high-fived. Jo on the other hand had no words. The small ship was absolutely stunning. It was just big enough for the three of them and it would take them to Mars in just two weeks. _The Galaxy_.

“My baby.” Jo said as he approached the ship. The two watched and rolled their eyes.

“You mean _our_ ship.” Seth said. “We have all been assigned this ship and we all agreed on the name.”

“Yeah but I’m the pilot so it’s technically my ship.” Jo didn’t take his eyes off it even for a second. He reached a hand out and stroked the cool metal. He loved the dark grey paint and if the light hit the ship just right then one could see the purple hidden within the grey. The others sighed and gave up. He wasn’t going to listen so they just let him have the victory. It was ‘ _his_ ’ ship.

“You kids ready for this?” All heads turned in the direction of the voice. The door opened to reveal their instructor who had prepared them for this journey for the past seven years.

“We’ve been ready since day one!” Jo said with a big smile.

Their instructor chuckled. “I thought so.” He walked over to them and held out a thin wooden box. The three gathered around and watched as he opened it. When he did they all gasped. Inside were three badges of the academy’s logo and their names. “Good job on all of your hard work. I know it hasn’t been easy for you, but you three made it. I seriously thought you were going to drop out but you didn’t. You all pulled through. You guys definitely earned these.”

“Oh my gosh! Everything seems like a dream!” Ash said excitedly. They each took the badge that had their name and clipped them on their uniforms.

“I can’t believe this is actually happening!” Seth looked down at the badge that was now on their chest and smiled widely. “We did it!”

“Remember to call your families before you leave.” Their instructor reminded them. “You three will be gone for months and will be so busy you won’t have much time for calls back home. You got it?”

“Yes sir!” The three said and saluted. Their instructor saluted back then left the hanger. The three admired their badges for a little while longer before packing up. There was a bunch of crates full of supplies and food that was in the hanger which they had to load up themselves. To make it fun they decided to make it a race and see who could load up the most crates in a certain time span. This turned out to be a success and in no time at all they were all packed up and ready to go. All that was left were a few phone calls. Jo took out his phone and dialed the phone number to his house.

“Hey.” Jo said after the phone on the other end picked up.

“Hey sweetie!” A cheerful woman’s voice said on the other end. “Where is your brother?”

“Right here mom.” Seth replied. “We just finished packing up and will be shipping off at any minute. Oh and get this, Jo thinks that The Galaxy is his!”

“Oh shut up.”

“That sounds like your brother.” Their mom said with a laugh.

“Hey… What is that supposed to mean..?” He shot a glare at Seth who had begun snickering.

“Oh nothing dear. So how long are you three going to be in space for?” Jo held back a sound of frustration. _Classic mom_. Sidestepping the main issue and quickly changing the subject.

“A few months. Possibly as long as four.” Ash replied. After eight years of close friendship with the Perry brothers he became part of the family.

“Oh hey Ash! Wow! That’s a long time for your first mission. Hope you don’t get too some sick, especially you Seth.” Now it was Jo’s turn to snicker and Seth went bright red in the face.

“ **Mom!** ”

“Good bye my darlings. I hope you have a wonderful time and do take lots of pictures!” And with that she hung up. Jo and Ash were laughing while Seth’s face remained a bright red.

“Shut up…” He said with his head hung in embarrassment.

“You remember your first few months here?” Jo said in between the laughs.

“Don’t remind me…”

“I remember it.” Ash said. Seth shot him a glare as if to say, ‘don’t say anything’ but Ash ignored it. “I remember hearing you cry almost every night and wishing you were home and didn’t you ask to sleep with Jo a few times?”

“Yeah he did. He had to be cuddled up right next to me and I had to hug him or else he’d start crying again.”

“ **Okay**!” Seth partly shouted. “That’s enough! Ash, call your family then let’s get out of here.” He took the phone from Jo’s hands and shoved it at Ash who just barely caught it before it fell to the floor.

“Okay, okay, _geez_.” Ash dialed the number for his house and in a few rings his mom picked up. She wasn’t so close with the Perry brothers as he was with their mom so he didn’t put her on speaker. They chatted for a while and he told her how long they expected to be up there for. The conversation was short and to the point and when they were done he handed the phone back to Jo. “Is everyone ready? I know I am.”

“Yep. After you.” Jo motioned to the door and Ash chuckled. He went in followed by Seth then Jo last and he closed the door on his way in. Seth got settled in his chair, right in front of the navigation equipment. Ash sat beside him and Jo sat in the seat in front of them.

“Everyone buckled in and ready?”

“Yep.” The other two responded. With a nod, Jo started up the ship and when the hanger door opened to the outside world he steered the plane towards it and flew it out of the large room. He pulled back on the yoke and up the spacecraft went. They were off to outer space. Off to Mars.


	2. The Voyage

 

The Galaxy was now in space. Down below was the big blue planet the group of three called home. _Earth_. Seth and Ash were mesmerized by what they were seeing. They had seen pictures of earth, several in fact throughout the years. At least once each year they had a presentation on the earth and why the school was training people to go into space and establish colonies on other planets.

Due to the climate change that began hundreds of years before, humanity was in trouble. Humans couldn’t evolve quickly enough to adapt to the rapid change so they rushed to build colonies elsewhere. Since Mars was their best shot, they started off there first. It had taken a while, a few hundred years and billions of dollars but eventually the plan was set into motion and it was actually happening. Humanity was going to build a colony on Mars and the group were going to be some of the first people to step foot on the red planet.

When they were far away enough, Seth took out his camera and snapped a picture of the earth. It was a high quality photo of the whole planet. He snapped a few more before putting his camera away Other than the earth, there wasn’t much to look at other than some stars. Of course if they looked behind them they could see the sun but that was so bright they would probably lose their vision for a while. He would take his camera out once they landed on Mars. His mom would kill him if he didn’t get a bunch of photos.

“Our next stop, the space station!” Jo announced after they cleared earth’s atmosphere. Ash and Seth exchanged glances and tried not to laugh. Jo could be really ridiculous at times but that’s what made him fun to hang out with. “We should be arriving in about two weeks so sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. This has been your captain Jo Perry speaking.”

“You’re such a loser.” Seth said with a chuckle.

“But you love me.” Jo turned in his seat and looked back at his little brother with his trademark cheeky grin. Seth rolled his eyes and looked down at the radar on the control panel in front of him.

“No I don’t.” Seth said flatly.

“What? Of _course_ you do! I’m your older brother after all.”

“Just because you’re my brother doesn’t mean I love you.” Ash burst out laughing at Seth’s remark while Jo had an annoyed expression on his face.

“Love you too…” He said more to himself and turned back to face the front.

For their two week voyage, not much really happened. They all joked around with each other and occasionally someone crossed the line and someone snapped but they were quickly forgiven. It was mostly between the brothers are they constantly teased each other but sometimes it was Ash who overstepped and it was always Jo who lashed out. He was usually a fun guy to hang out with but if his buttons were pushed he snapped quite easily. When this happened he would give up the controls to the person who didn’t anger him and went to the sleeping quarters. There, he would munch on some snacks, get some sleep and when he emerged hours later he was back to normal and all forgotten and forgiven.

When there weren’t fights going on the three talked about literally everything they could think of and at some point the topic of relationships and crushes came up. Jo didn’t like that one bit.

“Sooo _Joey_ ,” Seth said in a sly voice and a grin on his youthful face.

“Don’t call me that.” Jo snapped before his brother could finish speaking. His hands tightened around the yoke.

“Joey, what’s up with you and _that_ boy back home?”

“What boy?” He kept his eyes focused on the path ahead of him although he didn’t need to. There was nothing they could crash into and it was pretty straight forward to their destination.

“Oh, don’t act like we don’t _know_.” This time it was Ash who spoke up. Jo was getting slightly annoyed at them but tried to block them out. It was hard to do in such a small space. “We’ve seen you talking with this guy every chance you get and I don’t know about Seth, but I think you make excuses _just_ to see him!”

“I do _not_.”

“Oh! So you don’t deny you’ve been chatting him up?” Seth’s grin grew even wider. He couldn’t get a good look at Jo’s face but he knew his brother was blushing.

“ _Okay_ ,” Jo said defensively, “I have been talking to a guy at the academy but that doesn’t mean anything! We were _just_ talking. Nothing more than that. We end up talking so much because we both live on base and just happen to have some things in common. There is nothing going on between us.”

“If you say so but the way you are denying it so heavily makes me think otherwise.”

“I swear I will launch you into outer space if you don’t quit it!” Jo raised his voice and Seth knew it was time to back off. He looked over at Ash and the two chuckled.

“He _totally_ likes him.” Ash whispered to Seth who nodded in agreement. Jo acted like he didn’t hear that but he did. It was impossible not to but he didn’t feel like fighting at the moment. He was too tired and should probably hand over the controls to one of them soon. He would not be able to dodge an asteroid if one suddenly came hurling at them.

“You know what, I need a break.” Jo announced and looked back at the two younger voyagers. “Which one of you losers wants to drive?”

“Me!” The said at almost the same time and raising their hands but since Ash said it slightly before Seth, he got picked.

“Yes!” Ash unbuckled his seatbelt and replaced Jo in the pilot’s seat. Seth stuck out his tongue when Ash looked back at him. “Better luck next time.”

“Next time it’s my turn anyways so I don’t why you’re all smug.”

“You’re just jelly.”

“I’m not.”

“Are too.”

“Whatever.”

Jo grunted to himself as he walked out of the cockpit. ‘ _Kids…_ ’ He thought to himself. He went into the sleeping the quarters and got into his designated bed where he went straight to sleep.

When he did fall asleep, all he could dream about was that guy those two were teasing him about… He denied he had a crush on him for months now but every time he thought about him he turned a dark red and his heart skipped a beat. He was glad he was going to Mars for next four months. He needed to clear his thoughts of him which was almost impossible to do back at earth. That guy was everywhere! It was so frustrating and making it harder to deny that he in fact liked him…


	3. The Space Station

 

After two very long weeks they finally arrived at the space station. As the space station came into view their eyes went wide. They had all seen pictures of the station back at the academy but being in front it… That was a whole other experience.

“It’s huge!” Ash exclaimed.

“I had no idea it was this big!” Seth gasped.

“Have you two not seen the pictures of it?” Jo questioned as they approached. “In every photo it shows the station along with Mars and looking at them side by side it’s pretty obvious that it’s not that small.”

“Yeah but pictures don’t always accurately portray size ratios.” Ash pointed out.

“That’s true but still, it’s quite big in the photos.”

“I mean… you have a point…” Seth agreed. He didn’t take his eyes off the station the whole time. He was amazed at its size in comparison to not only their ship but Mars too.

The Galaxy approached the space station and soon a sound beeped on the control panel. A little green light flashed in time with the beeps and Jo reached over and pressed a button that was located right under the light and it went from blinking to a steady light. “State your ID number and reasons for coming.” A gruff male voice said almost immediately after Jo pushed the button.

“Ship ID, F-458. _The Galaxy_ requesting permission to land. We are the team who will be exploring Mars and approving the target area for construction of the base.” Jo replied. The three waited a few tense seconds before there was another beep and the gruff voice replied.

“ID confirmed and approved. Please land in hangar A-14.”

“Will do. Thanks.” Jo pushed the same button again and the green light turned off. “We made it guys!” The little crew of three cheered and Jo steered the ship to the appointed hangar. When they landed the three rushed out of the ship and onto the solid metal ground of the space station.

“Finally free!” Seth exclaimed in excitement and threw his hands up in air in celebration.

“It was so cramped in there.” Ash whined as he stretched out his limbs.

“Stop complaining.” Jo said slightly annoyed. “It isn’t that cramped.”

“For two weeks it is.” Seth said.

“Whatever. Get your bags and let’s go find our rooms.” The two nodded and picked up their bags that they had dropped on the ground after exiting the ship. Jo led the way even though he had no clue where to go. None of them did but the two younger ones relied on Jo because he was older than them and was a natural leader. Jo read the signs that were plastered all over the place and finally made it to the bunks. Prior to leaving they had received their room number and luckily they were all put in the same room. Jo wondered if their instructor made that happen because he knew how close they all were. Either way, he was glad were all sharing a room.

“Finally! A real bed!” Seth exclaimed with joy as he plopped down on a bed. “Ahhh! It feels so nice to be on an actual mattress!”

“Why do you have to be so dramatic?” Jo questioned with an eyebrow raised as he looked down at his little brother. “You act like we’ve been sleeping on wooden bed the past two weeks.”

“Jo, those mattresses were so hard they might have well have been made of wood!”

“I agree with Seth.” Ash spoke up. “They were the most uncomfortable and hard beds I have ever slept on in my whole life.”

“Funny, because they didn’t bother me.” Jo shrugged.

“That’s because you’re not human. I’ve been saying this for years!”

“Oh shut up. I’m totally human.”

“I don’t believe you.” The three laughed and got settled in. This room would be their home for the next four months so they unpacked all of their things. They had all brought pictures with them which they put on the shelves that were built into the walls. Jo took one out of his bag and paused as he looked at it.

Seth noticed the change in his brother and went up behind him to peek over his shoulder. He smirked when he saw the picture. It was a picture of Jo and the very same guy the two had teased him about having a crush on. In the picture they were sitting on a bench in the courtyard of the academy and this guy had his arm around Jo’s shoulder. That was something only couples did.

“I _knew_ it!” Jo almost jumped out of his skin when Seth spoke up. He was so focused on the picture in his hand that he didn’t even notice how close his brother was.

“Seth!” Jo turned to face his brother and glared at him. The picture was pressed against his chest. “What is _wrong_ with you?!”

“What is wrong with you?” Seth retorted. “You keep denying you have a crush on the guy but there you are, in that picture with his arm around you!”

“What?! _Really_?” Ash dashed over to them and tried to grab the picture from Jo. “Lemme see!”

“Back off!” Jo slapped Ash’s hand away and held the picture even closer against him.

“You’re in _love_!” Seth began to chant.

“I am _not_!” Jo’s face grew a dark red as his brother continued chanting. What was he, five years old? Ash joined in soon after and Jo was ready to kill himself. If a hole was blown in the wall of the station and sucked him out at that moment he would be just fine with that. Better yet, if an asteroid hit and killed them all.

“Who would have thought? Jo, in _love_!” Seth chuckled and danced around his brother who was too embarrassed to do anything.

“I never would have thought we’d see the day!”

“Will you two shut up already!” Jo finally snapped. The two jumped back and laughed when Jo tired and failed to hit them. “You are so _annoying_!”

“That’s what little brothers are for.” Seth winked and in response, Jo’s eye twitched.

“I’m getting ready for bed!” Jo huffed and went over to the bathroom that was attached to the room. He could hear Ash and Seth laugh after the door closed behind him. When they began to think about dating seriously he was going to get revenge. Why in the world were they acting like a bunch of high school students? Sure, this was the first person Jo had ever shown interest in but why did that give those two a right to torment him about it? Should they find someone he vowed to show that person the most embarrassing, most humiliating photos he had of them and thanks to their mom, he had a lot. He even had some great stories about them that was bound to completely ruin them if someone they were interested in heard them.

A grin spread across Jo’s face as he thought about all the ways he could destroy those two in the future. Oh when the day came he was going to have so much fun. He chuckled to himself and got ready for bed.


	4. A Discovery On Mars

 

They all woke up to the sound of the loudspeaker going off. It was connected to a 24 hour clock and they had an alarm that went off at 7 AM to get everyone up, and one at 9:30 PM to let the habitants know it was time to settle down. No one had to really obey the rules as they got up according to their designated duties and the cafeteria was always open but it helped people maintain a sense of time and kept the station operating smoothly.

Jo groaned when the loud beeping started. It only lasted for a few seconds but it was still annoying and he wasn’t ready to get up just yet. His brother Seth and their friend Ash on the other hand… Seth was up the moment the beeping started and jumped out of bed. He quickly got dressed and went over to his brother’s bed where he shook him. “Come on Jo!” Jo groaned as his whole body was shook and tried to push Seth away but failed. “Get up! Today is the day we are going to Mars!”

“Give me ten more minutes…” Jo groaned with his face buried in his pillow.

“No! Get up _now_!” Seth continued to shake his brother who finally grew tired of it and sat up in bed. He did his best to straighten out his shoulder length hair and looked at his brother with a tired, yet annoyed expression on his face.

“Fine. I’m up. You happy?”

“Yup!” Seth beamed then went to the bathroom to freshen up when Ash left. They high-fived each other as they passed. Jo collapsed back on his bed when Seth left and room and sighed rather loudly.

“ _Hey_! No going back to sleep!” Ash said and pointed a finger at Jo who was too tired to care.

“I just need a quick nap…”

“Nap? Dude! You just woke up!” Jo grunted in response and Ash sighed. “Fine. You’ve given me no other choice.” He went over to Jo and grabbed his legs. Before he could register the hands on his legs, Ash tugged and pulled him off the bed. He grunted when his back hit the ground.

“Hey! What’s the big idea?!” He looked up at Ash with a glare.

“No going back to sleep now.” He grinned. Jo kept glaring at him and got up. He was no longer tired and wanted to go back to sleep and when Seth exited the bathroom, he went in.

“What was that all about?” Seth questioned Ash as he watched his brother storm into the bathroom.

“I prevented him from sleeping in.”

“You pulled him off the bed, didn’t you?” Seth asked with an eyebrow raised when he saw the grin on Ash’s face. Ash nodded and Seth chuckled. “You are so _evil_.”

“I never claimed to be nice. You guys are the ones who assumed I was which was a mistake on your part.”

“A devil is disguise.”

“Yup.”

They continued to get ready and when everyone was ready they headed to their ship. “You all ready?” Jo asked as he sat down in the pilot’s seat.

“Yup.” Ash and Seth said as they buckled up.

“Good.” When everyone was settled Jo got the ship ready and when the doors opened he flew the ship out. The ride was fairly short and soon they were getting ready to land. Jo kept a stoic expression while the two younger ones were practically jumping in their seats. “Here we are! Landing on Mars in less than a minute. You kids ready?”

“Heck yes!” Seth exclaimed.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment since I was a kid!” Ash had his face pressed against the window and observed the surroundings. They entered the atmosphere and they could see the rocky, mountainous terrain of the red planet. Seth took out his camera and began snapping away. He was getting as many as he could and the highest quality he camera could manage.

“I can’t wait to explore!”

“Guys you do remember that we aren’t here just to explore, right?” Jo asked. “We are here to make sure the site is still in perfect condition for the construction site. And Seth, try not to take pictures the whole time, okay?”

“I won’t but I need to get a few or else mom is gonna kill me.” Seth said as he continued to take pictures.

“Yeah but make sure to keep your eyes out for lose ground or rocks that might slide down the mountain.” Seth made a sort of grunting sound in agreement and Ash held up his hand and gave the ‘okay’ sign. Jo rolled his eyes and focused on landing the ship. He pointed the nose of the ship down and began to descend. The landing went smoothly as he had gotten lots of practice at the academy and just for fun, Ash and Seth clapped when they touched down. “Stop.” Jo chuckled.

Everyone unbuckled and prepared to head out. They got all of their supplies ready and the last thing they did was put on their helmets. Jo had them double check their oxygen supply and that everything was secured before he opened the door. Seth and Ash thought it was supper annoying but knew he was just being a good brother and making sure they all stayed safe. The atmosphere here was very different than earth and with very little oxygen, they would die fairly quickly.

Once everything was doubled checked and approved by Jo, he finally opened the door. There was some celebration and the two younger ones dashed right out the door and jumped down onto the ground below. The ground crunched under their feet and there were little poofs of dust that flew up around their feet as they landed.

“This is _amazing_!” Seth exclaimed and began jumping around the area.

“I feel so light, like I weigh nothing at all!” Ash chimed in and jumped around with Seth. The two were having fun and laughing while Jo remained serious. He rolled his eyes as he watched the two but soon grew tired and went to take a look around.

So far the area looked to be in good condition. It was fairly flat with no big rocks and the ground seemed to be quite solid but they couldn’t write anything off just yet. They needed to scan the whole area and if there were any concerns such as rocks that could potentially roll down the nearby mountain they had to mark them on a map for a team to check out later.

After the initial excitement wore off the other two calmed down and joined in on the mission. The real reason they were there. Ash pulled out his scanner and began to start scanning the ground, section by section while Jo focused on the mountain slope. It almost surrounded the area which could be a problem for a colony if rocks began to tumble down. That had to be checked thoroughly. Seth on the other hand had pulled out his camera and began snapping away. It was his job to take a picture of anything that might be a hazard so the team who were to review it had an idea of what it looked like from the ground but he wasn’t doing that. He was taking random landscapes and even some selfies. Jo noticed this and groaned in annoyance but since he wasn’t needed as of yet he let him continue.

Seth snapped a few more pictures before stopping and lowering his camera. Something in the near distance had caught his eye. He looked back at the others and saw they were focused on their tasks so he didn’t bother them with what could be nothing. It could be an organic material that reflected sunlight but he was curious so he went over to take a closer look. He carefully approached and when he got close, he gasped. There was a small mound of dust and small rocks but peaking out of the top was a metallic structure that looked very familiar to the young voyager. He reached out and brushed away some of the dust to reveal what it was.

“Hey guys…” He said into the built in speaker system in his helmet. “You might want to come and take a look at this…”


	5. Opportunity Strikes Again

 

“What is it?” Jo asked as he and Ash made their way over to Seth.

“Did you find alien technology?” Ash asked eagerly.

“Well kinda…” Seth’s reply made both of them stop in their tracks.

“Wait, _what_?” Jo asked. His heart skipped a beat. Did his brother actually find proof of intelligent life?

“It’s alien technology by definition but it wasn’t made by extraterrestrials…”

“Dude you’re creeping me out. What are you talking about?” Ash said and went to stand next to his friend. Seth brushed away some more dirt and the two gasped at what they saw.

“I think I just found Opportunity…”

“No way!” Ash dug away the dust to reveal more of the metallic material and Jo joined in out of curiosity. In no time at all they had almost completely dug out whatever was hidden under the debris. There before them was the rover that was named Opportunity. “Oh my gosh…”

“It’s Opportunity…” Jo breathed as the rover was uncovered. “I can’t believe it… After all these years…”

“The poor thing!” Seth exclaimed. “All alone for all these years… How heartbreaking!”

“Dude… It’s just a robot. No need to get all emotional about it.” Jo nudged Seth to try and snap him out of his little emotional episode but his brother was close to tears.

“He might be just a robot but it’s still so sad to think he’s been out here all alone and buried under all this dirt! Ash, can you fix him up?”

“Well yeah.” Ash did a quick exam on the rover then turned to Seth. “It looks like nothing was damaged. If we clean him up and replace the battery he should be all set.”

“You have got to be kidding me… We aren’t going to revive it!” Jo burst out. “This is absolutely ridiculous! This isn’t our property so I say we just leave it and continue on with our task!”

“Joseph!” Seth snapped back at his brother. This stunned Jo into silence. “We can’t just leave him out here! Where is your humanity?!”

“Humanity?! Are you joking? It’s nothing but a hunk of metal!”

“A hunk of metal that I can revive.” Ash removed his backpack from his shoulders and searched for the tools he would need. “Come on dude, let us have this. NASA basically disowned the little guy five hundred years ago. They won’t need him back after all these years as they have developed better technology.”

“You do know how much this thing cost them right?” Jo leaned down to Ash and stopped him from taking out a screwdriver. “This rover cost four hundred _million_ US dollars! Do you know how much that is? You think they aren’t going to want it back?”

“Even if they did, maybe dad can reason with them and let us keep it.” Seth suggested. Jo snapped his head in his brother’s direction and glared at him. Their dad had a high level government job and he could easily convince NASA to let the boys keep the rover but Jo doubted his father would do that.

“No. We are going to leave the rover right here and go back to work. End of discussion!” Jo stormed off and when the two made no move to follow he turned around and yelled into his helmet’s microphone for them to hurry up.

“Don’t worry little one.” Seth said reassuringly as he looked back at Opportunity. “Ash and I will be back to help you soon.”

“How are we going to do that?” Ash packed up his bag and stood up to face Seth. “Jo is going to be watching us like a hawk from now on.”

“You’re darn right I am!” They both jumped when his voice came on the speakers. For a second, both boys forgot that he was able to hear every word they said. Seth looked back at Jo and when he turned his attention back to his work, he looked back at Ash and changed the setting on his communication device to a private channel which he invited Ash to join.

“Walk back with me and I’ll explain the plan.”

“Sure thing.”

The two made their way back to Jo which pleased him so his turned his full attention to the job at hand. “Okay so here’s the plan.” Seth said. “I’m going to go up the mountain and explore a bit. If I have to, I’ll push a big rock closer to the edge and get Jo to take a look. While I’m doing that, you go over to Oppy and fix him up. How long do you think It will take?”

“Not too long. Maybe ten to fifteen minutes?”

“Good. I’ll try to keep his attention until then.”

“Just to be on the safe side, maybe make sure there are like, at a minimum five rocks or something for him to look at. I don’t want him catching me before I finish.”

“Fair enough. Let’s get to work!” The two went off on their separate ways while switching back to the main communication channel. Ash went back to scanning the ground while Seth climbed up the mountain. When he got to the top he did find a few rocks that were at a concerning distance from the edge of the cliff. With a big enough gust of wind they could come tumbling down and potentially hurt a worker on site or even damage the building. Seth found a total of three problem rocks but he wasn’t sure if that would be enough. He needed his brother to be up here for at least ten minutes. He looked around and saw a few more rocks that weren’t too far away. _Perfect_.

He went over to them and began pushing them closer to the edge but not too close. Just close enough to get Jo to inspect and measure them from the edge. That would take up a bit of time and after moving four he thought it was good enough. He retraced his steps and made sure it looked like he was walking around the rocks and inspecting them. For the trails further behind and rock trail he dusted the ground to make it look untouched. When he was satisfied with his work he spoke into the microphone.

“Hey Jo, come up the mountain. I found some things I think you should take a look at.”

“What is it?”

“I found some rocks I think are too close to the edge but since you are the leader I wanted your second opinion.”

“Alright. I’m coming up now.” Seth grinned to himself. Mission success. Now it was up to Ash to go over to Opportunity and fix up the little rover. He went over to the edge of the cliff and looked down at his friend. Ash looked over at him and gave him a thumbs up when Jo had walked away from him and towards the mountain slope. He then took off with his tools and dashed over to the rover. Seth looked away from him and back at his brother to keep Jo from looking back at Ash.

When Jo made it to the top Seth took him to the boulder furthest from their assigned area to minimize the risk of him seeing Ash. Jo inspected every rock and took careful measurement from the edge of the cliff to the rock. With Jo being Jo, he had to double check his measurements which was just fine with Seth but to keep suspicions off him, he repeatedly asked his brother when he would be done.

“Just shut up and let me work, would ya?” Jo said in annoyance. “You asked me to come up here and take a look at the rocks which is what I am doing. How about you start taking pictures of them? Oh, and make sure you get multiple angles.”

“On it.” Seth got out his camera once again and began taking photos of every rock and made sure to snap every possible angle. After around twelve minutes Ash’s voice came on the speaker.

“You guys done up there?” Seth grinned from ear to ear. He had finished fixing up Opportunity.


	6. Back From The Dead

 

Jo and Seth finished up what they were doing on the mountain then began making their way back down. When they reached the bottom they headed back to the ship and they had pretty much completed their mission. The area they were sent to wasn’t that big and a majority of the building was going to be built underground. They walked around the ship which is where they met up with Ash and Jo got quite the shock.

“What did you _do_?!” He yelled when he saw what was beside Ash.

“Oh nothing…” He said with an innocent smile. He looked to his side where the rover named Opportunity stood. “Just revived our little friend.”

“I told you to leave it alone!”

“Yeah but he looked so sad… I couldn’t help myself… When you went up the mountain I went over to him and revived him. He needed a new battery which I just happen to have and I polished up his solar panels. Surprisingly everything was still in fantastic condition. After that I re-wired him so he could communicate right to my phone.” Ash took out the small device and held it up. Seth and Jo took a closer look and he had the messaging app open and the conversation he had opened was titled “Oppy”.

“I cannot believe this…” Jo put his head in his hands and took some deep breaths. “You not only went against a direct order but you hacked government property!”

“Well yeah but they disowned him…”

“I’m going to kill you when we get back… How are we supposed to bring him back?!”

“Um… On The Galaxy..? Duh?”

“That’s not what I mean you twit! I mean, how are we supposed to bring him back to the base! Do you really think people won’t notice?! The rover isn’t exactly small enough to fit in your pocket!”

“Dude calm down. I’ll handle it.”

“I’ll be the one who gets in trouble though because I was supposed to be in charge but instead I let you hack a government robot that cost four hundred million!”

“I claim full responsibility for whatever happens. I did go off behind your back after all.”

“Whatever. Let’s get out of here…” Jo was the first one on the ship and after helping Oppy up, the other two joined. No one talked during the whole ride back to the space station. The atmosphere was tense and when they landed Jo got out of his chair and was the first one out. Seth and Ash exchanged nervous glanced and followed their leader with Oppy close behind.

There were quite a few people in the hanger as they looked over the supplies that were stored there and a team came up to inspect and clean up their ship. Everyone took notice of the robot. Jo was still very mad at Ash and stormed off to find someone in charge while Ash and Seth stayed behind. Everyone stopped what they were doing and practically swarmed the three and began to ask questions. Of course they all knew about the rover. Sure it had been a few hundred years but Oppy the little rover was still known to millions of people.

They answered a bunch of questions in a short period of time and even posed for pictures with Oppy. They expected people to be mad after the way Jo acted but it was the complete opposite. Everyone was excited to take a look at Opportunity and some even texted with him on Ash’s phone. The transmissions he sent back were converted into texts and with a little programming, Ash had managed to give him artificial intelligence. This excited everyone in the room but soon the party came to an end.

All heads turned to the door when it opened to reveal the commander of the space station. His uniform was decorated in medals and he held himself with pride. He walked over to the two boys and robot while the crowd parted to make room for him. He saluted to them and they saluted back. He then looked down at the robot who had moved in between the two, almost like he was seeking protection. “What do we have here?”

“Opportunity, the rover NASA sent to Mars around five hundred years ago. _Sir_.” Ash managed to squeak out. “I revived him and cleaned him up…”

“You do know you could very well be arrested for tampering with government property, right?” Ash quickly nodded and bowed his head in shame. The commander looked at Opportunity then back at the boys. “I must say you did a good job. His model is very old and not many people know how to work it. Very impressive.”

“T-Thank you sir…”

“You are lucky boy. I phoned NASA and they said that because Opportunity is so old and outdated, he isn’t worth much to them anymore. They say his price has gone down to almost nothing and there are no parts of his they think they could reuse. This means that if you wanted to, you can keep him.”

Ash’s eyes went wide in shock and he looked up at the commander. “Do you really mean it?!”

“Yes. I had a good long chat with them and they said he was of no use to them anymore. He is all yours if you want him. Do you?”

“Of course I do!”

“Well congratulations. You got yourself a robot.” The whole room burst into cheers and Ash shook the commander’s hand then Seth. The two boys then gave each other the biggest hug while Jo looked on in disbelief.

“You can’t be serious…” He said to the commander as he turned to leave.

“Oh I am. This little robot isn’t worth anything to NASA anymore so they don’t want him back.”

“But he cost so much for them to make and send to Mars!”

“While that is true, so much time has passed he is of no value to them. His parts can’t even be used in anything. He would only be melted down for scrap metal so I figured I’d let those boys keep it.”

“Unbelievable…”

The commander chuckled and tipped his hat to Jo. “Enjoy the newest member of your team, captain Perry.” And with that he walked out of the hangar. Jo watched him leave and when the doors shut he looked back at his brother and Ash. They had resumed talking to the others but that slowly died down as everyone had to go back to work. There were a few more pictures but soon the room was quiet as people resumed their jobs.

Seth and Ash looked over at Jo who crossed his arms. He was still upset that Ash had disobeyed him but there wasn’t much that he could do. They had been allowed to keep the rover and he had been accepted as a new member of their team. What exactly he could do for them remained to be seen but for now he seemed to be just a companion. A very expensive companion…


	7. A New Life

 

The group of three, now four remained at the space station for the planned four months. During that time they made a few more visits to Mars to collect data and samples the to scout for locations for future colonies. The spots couldn’t be too far away from each other and the plan was to have them all connected. It took a while, a few hours of scouting and careful planning they found five possible spots for future colonies. They landed at each one and examined the ground to make sure it was good before marking it on the map.

Oppy helped and Ash had even installed new technology on the robot to make him more efficient. He even improved the AI he had installed in his programming as what he gave him initially was the most simplistic version. After all the upgrades, Oppy now could use his panoramic cameras as eyes and could see the world around him and those images were then sent to his main processor which acted like a brain. It processed the images that it received and turned it into code for the programming to read and understand. He had basically become almost human and became very attatched to Ash and Seth. Oppy expressed wanting to get to know Jo but he wasn’t too fond of the idea. To him, this was nothing more than metal and code. It couldn’t possibly think like them or want to do anything other than what it was programmed to do.

Seth tried many times to get Jo to text with Oppy and even connected his phone to Oppy but still he refused. He did get a few texts from Oppy with some asking if they could be friends and the little robot didn’t stop until Jo said yes. He then sent an emoji of a happy face. “Of course Ash would install that feature…” Jo sighed to himself.

As their time came to end on the space station the group began to pack up their things. Finally the time came for them to go home. Jo could hardly wait. He missed his friends back at the academy. He especially missed a certain someone… His face went red as he thought about him. No. He didn’t have a crush on him. A crush is what a high school student got. Not a grown up man such as himself. He finished packing up his things then went to take his bags back to the ship. Seth and Ash weren’t far behind and following them was Oppy. He never left their side. Jo wondered how they weren’t annoyed by it. He would be.

When they all arrived at their ship they go in and put away their bags in secure compartments in the storage room which also doubled as the sleeping quarters. For the duration of their flight, Oppy was going to stay there as there was not enough room in the cockpit for him. Ash texted Oppy on his phone to let him know he had to stay there for the whole two weeks. The robot replied with a sad face emoji which just broke Ash’s heart. ‘Don’t be sad Oppy.’ Ash texted back. ‘We’ll be home before you know it.’ Oppy replied with a happy face emoji and Ash smiled. He loved that robot.

Jo got the ship ready for take off and when the door opened they flew out into space. Ash and Seth couldn’t stop talking for the first few days. They were discussing what activities they were going to do with Oppy once they got home and what they were going to teach him about humans. They even talked about what new features Ash could add in his programming that would be fun. Jo rolled his eyes as he listened to them. He didn’t see what the big deal was and why ‘Oppy’ was so cute. He wasn’t cute at all in his opinion. He was just a hunk of metal that was built five hundred years ago. Why were these two so attached to a piece of metal? He would probably never understand and every time he asked them they simply responded with, ‘he’ll grow on you eventually. He is so lovable.’ Jo doubted that but the two were convinced that he would change his mind in time.

Two weeks went by and they three were approaching earth. Jo asked Ash to put in the coordinates for the academy which he did almost instantly. “Alright boys. We are ready to land.”

“I can’t wait to be on earth.” Ash said with a happy sigh. “Sure this was fun but I miss home.”

“What are you going to do when you are called away for an even longer mission?”

“Cry and wish I was back home.” Everyone laughed at Ash’s comment.

When they entered into earth’s atmosphere Ash had received a text and when he looked at his phone he saw it was Oppy. The little robot was a bit worried as to why they were suddenly going down. Ash texted him and reassured him that everything was fine and they were about to land on earth. He asked if the rover remembered earth but of course he didn’t.

They landed without any problems and were welcomed back by their families who were standing in the hangar. When the door flew open they all cheered, celebrating their first trip to outer space. Seth began tearing up and ran right into his mother’s arms and gave her a big hug. He didn’t realize how much he missed her until he saw her. Jo followed him and joined in on the hug. Unfortunately their dad couldn’t make it but they knew he missed them. Ash on the other hand didn’t give his mom a hug. Instead they just made small talk and it hurt when he saw his friends giving their mom hugs and kisses. He wished he could have that with his mom but she was very uptight and serious. Affection really wasn’t her thing and she split with his dad shortly after he was born. She wasn’t even that impressed when he showed her Oppy but after she left he told Mrs. Perry who acted like a mother should. She first gave him a big welcome back hug and a kiss on the forehead then congratulated him for reviving the rover.

He smiled and after the welcome home party was done everyone started to leave the room and head to the lounge where there would be food and drinks but just as Jo was leaving, something or rather someone caught his eye. The room was near empty now as most had left expect for one person. Him. Jo gulped and walked towards him. “H-Hey.” He said nervously.

“Hey Jo.” He said with a bright smile. “How was your first mission?”

“O-Oh. It was great. I had fun.” Jo could feel his face heat up and prayed that he wouldn’t notice.

“That’s great. It must have been amazing to step foot on Mars. I hope I can go someday.”

“It really was and I am sure you will get called to go eventually.”

“Who knows.” He shrugged. He then went quiet and looked down at the floor. This was unusal for him as his personality was far from shy and quiet. Jo tilted his head in confusion and he could swear he saw his face turn pink. “So um… I was wondering if you wanted to go grab a drink with me…?”

Jo felt like his heart completely stopped beating in that moment. Did he just get asked out on a date? By the guy he has liked for a while now? Was this really happening? “Um… You mean… like a date..?”

“Yeah…”

“I’d love that.” The moment those words left his mouth, cheering could be heard from behind the door. The two young men looked over and their faces went a dark red when they saw Ash and Seth standing behind the door. Oppy was in full view as hiding was not yet in his programming and from the sound they could tell that he had taken a picture. Click. “YOU GUYS!”

“We knew it!” Seth exclaimed then he, Ash and Oppy dashed away at full speed before Jo could even attempt to catch them.

“I am so going to kill them!” Jo said angrily under his breath.

“Don’t worry about it. Just let them have their fun.”

“Fun? Fun for them. Annoying for me.”

“That’s what younger siblings do, right?”

“Yeah I guess so…” Jo sighed.

“Come. Let’s go grabs some snacks before they’re all gone.”

“That sounds great.” And off the two went. They were greeted with laughter from Seth and Ash who had received the photo Oppy took of the two and in it they were both clearly flustered. Jo was ready to fight them but their mom stopped him and reminded him that this was a party and not to make a scene. He sighed and turned to the three. “This isn’t over.” He warned. They laughed again but left him alone so he could enjoy the party with his date.


End file.
